Third Scout joins Cheraw sexual abuse case

Third Scout joins Cheraw sexual abuse case

CHERAW — A third former Boy Scout has joined the civil lawsuit accusing former 4th Circuit Solicitor Jay Hodge and another man of sexually abusing them while they served as scoutmasters, the lawyer for the plaintiffs said Monday.

Attorney Trey Cockrell of Cockrell Law Firm in Chesterfield, who filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs two weeks ago, said the new alleged victim came forward after reading newspaper accounts and online accounts of the case this week. He currently lives in Horry County, but grew up in Cheraw.

The man, identified in court papers filed Friday as “Youth Male C,” is now 36 years old. That’s about 10 years younger than “Youth Male A,” or “Youth Male B.” The original defendants are brothers who recalled abuse by Hodge and William C. Hebard at separate times while they two men worked with scouts in Troop 663, sponsored by First Prebyterian Church of Cheraw. Those alleged acts took place between 1975-80. The new defendant said he was abused at Hodge’s house when he was 10 years old. That would suggest an incident occuring in 1986.

Hodge, who retired as solicitor in 2008 and still practices law in Chesterfield County, vehemently denied the original charges, calling them “lies” and sugges...